Buhari, Parliamentary Support Group meet over 2019, constituency projects

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday night met behind closed doors with members of the Parliamentary Support Group at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The group had met with the President over the various issues confronting the nation as it moves towards the 2019 general elections.

Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the group, Musa Sarkin Adar said “We looked at the concerns within the country and the various political parties because election is approaching and we members of APC in the National Assembly felt that it is necessary to come and interface with Mr. president and the national chairman of the party to address issues and concerns raised by members across the federation.

“In each state of the federation, there are certain concerns and misgivings when the congresses were held from wards, to local government to state level, there were so many discrepancies and issues that came up and people made a lot of complaints and they were not listened to as a result of that some people thought that they will move out of the party and join another party.

“Others, even before that have made up their minds they are going somewhere and we feel it is necessary to come and inform the president that we are committed to remain party members, but issues should be looked into and addressed properly, so that all aggrieved members can be persuaded to remain together so that we can ensure victory for our party in the 2019 general elections.

“It is also to encourage the relationship between the executive and the national Assembly to be cordial. We know who causes all those frictions and we are trying as much as possible to make sure that such things does not happen again for the betterment of this country. We should not be partisan in everything we do, especially on our conduct on the floor of the House.

“From the previous experiences of the previous Assembly which we were opportune to be members then, we know what happened and we know what it caused the country. So it is now a clarion call for us to rally behind the president and the need for us to also be listened to so that the issues of development of this country can be addressed,” he said.

On the President’s response at the meeting, he said “Very well and very fantastic. We explained to him the idea of zonal intervention or what is called constituency projects; that it is not money given to us, but projects worth millions of naira that we should only site where it should be sited in our various constituencies and it is one of the most unifying factor of this country.

“Because it’s one of the ways in which you can have a reflective performance of the government in certain areas. For example if you go to rural areas and you don’t have provision of water borehole, primary school or primary health care, before you take certain projects to them, it will be difficult.

“But these constituency projects that are allocated to us on the basis of where you come from and you select 1 2 3 4 or whatever the money allocated to the project is given then that is what your people will benefit from and as such, there is equitable distribution of infrastructure across the nation,” he said.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha said that the meeting was a very encouraging interface between the legislature and the executive.

He said “Don’t forget that the national Assembly had an Open Week, throughout the course of this week, this is a continuation of that engagement and I belief that after this kind of interaction with different arms of government, we will be able to build synergy, build consensus on issues and find resolutions to it.

“Politics is a game of negotiations, it’s a game of dialogue, and understanding and it is for the betterment of our country. We are the party in government; the legislature is part of government; if the executive does not succeed, it will also rub off on the legislature. So it is just a continuation of this dialogue that can afford us the chance to deliver the dividends of democracy to our people.” he said

Speaking further on the meeting, the Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly matters (Senate), Ita Enang said “Let me very sincerely appreciate these honorable members of the parliamentary support group and they have come as persons who have come together to support the president’s vision on the floor of the House of Representatives and the national Assembly as a whole.

“And I use this opportunity to express to them the concerns of all the members and Mr. President has responded in a manner that is very satisfactory to them. This is one of the back channels that is being arranged and is granted by Mr. President and officers of the executive from time to time to enable the legislators interact personally, with personal questions and personal concerns on the state, the party, projects and programmes of government and that has been fully addressed.

“And of course, his Excellency Mr. President invited the National Chairman of the party and addressed all their concerns assuring them that matters of the party will be properly addressed and that none of them should have fear because the party is for every person.

“And he has told them how the nominations will go and has given them confidence and this confidence will be transmitted to all other members of the house and Senate who are not here and next time, we are going to arrange for Senators in the next few days as part of confidence building and bridging the gap between the executive and legislature.” he said

Abdulmumini Jibrin said that they were at the Villa to show solidarity to Mr. President and to encourage him to continue with the good work he is doing for the country and also to discuss some issues concerning the APC.

With the success of the meeting, he said that Mr. President has requested for such meeting to hold quarterly.

Speaking on decamping, he said “Well every party in the world, not only in Nigeria has its challenges and the APC is not an exception but I am sure that the leadership of the party is doing all that it can do to ensure that they continue to unite the party and everyone is protected within the party.

Mohammed Gololo said “We are hopeful that with the interaction we are having with the national chairman of the party, with the synergy that is ongoing, most likely, the defection may not take place as it used to be amplified.”